Epiphany
by jaimi-or-jaemi
Summary: Set directly after John leaves the Watson Pack home in chapter 93 of Seeking, Alexei has some things to think about


I love any sort of reviews, comments, and communication.

Tumblr about my stories: JaimiStoryTeller

So this didn't really fit in Seeking, thus it is a stand alone.

* * *

Alexei's POV  
After John leaves he finds himself in the room with his mate and brother but his attention is not on them.

How dare that upstart wolf dare threaten him? Anna is his daughter! If he feels that binding her will be safest, who the hell does this John think he is? And Emma! How dare she take his side! They are mates. She is supposed to be on his side. He rages in his mind, only to be interrupted by his mate.

"First off: you are thinking loudly and I am a telepath. It's a strong trait in our family. Close to every one of us is good at it. Secondly: John is my first cousin, elite alpha and healer. Thirdly: if he says she needs training, then she will get training. Fourth: if my grandmum was a thera then I have even more respect for her because she was one of the greatest healers I have ever known, she helped guide our pack through dark times, saved countless lives including my fathers, and was the most welcoming person I know, even more than my Aunt Sandra. Fifth: and this is probably the most important one, if you ever, I mean ever try to bind her or have someone else bind her, I'll leave and take her with me. I would rather be mateless than have something happen to my daughter." She growls at him, her voice low and serious, a viciousness he is not used to in his normally mild mannered mate. "Now I am going to the library, I would suggest you think about what I said. If you need a lesson in the different types of laws, Venomous is probably around here somewhere, have a word with him." with that she turns on her heel, striding out of the room without giving him a chance to speak.

Thankfully that is something he is more used to since she does not like confrontation and will often leave rather than fight, coming back or him finding her once the anger has lessened and they can speak rationally.

"She's right you know," his brother states in their native tongue from his spot against the wall, "It is better to be mateless than to allow ones mate to hurt their offspring." Shrugging, his brother continues, "The wolf was right too, there is only three laws passed by the Old Gods, the rest are shifter made. It is only in the last five-hundred years or so that theras have been feared."

He stares at his brother, shocked beyond words that his brother is taking the outsiders side and view.

"Pyotr," he mumbles, not sure what to say.

Straightening, the younger wolf comments, "I'm going to go find those other wolves, see what advice they can give me. I want to protect her to the best of my ability, and if that means learning from outsiders I will. You should stop trying to think like an alpha and start thinking like a father, that's what ours would have done." With that said his brother leave the room as well, back straight and head held high. His brother seems to be coming into his own.

Could he be wrong? An alpha must be sure in all decisions made about his pack. An alpha must make the best decision possible with the information he has to benefit the pack. Theras are a danger, they are uncontrolled and unfocused. Yet, his cousin-in-bond is highly controlled, highly focused and he is a thera. He can see the danger that lurks in him, but it is not his gift that is the danger, it is something else. Is the reason theras are regarded as uncontrolled because the fact they are not getting proper training?

As much as he hates to admit it, a child with any other gift would be matched with an adult with the same gift. Why then do they not do that with thera children? Could it be because entire generations of trained theras are gone, leaving only the untrained children with no one who can train them properly? How much of the insanity and lack of control comes from a lack of proper teachers? How could he as a parent deny his daughter proper training? He couldn't. Not as a father and not as an alpha. It is his duty as an alpha to make sure all children receive the training they need, that is something his father drilled into him at a young age.

What about the traditions regarding thera? When did they become the enemy among the shifter community? When did the blind hate and fear start? He cannot think of a single time his parents feared healers, only had a healthy amount of respect for them. He can even recall his grandfather once telling him to respect a healers word for they know more than they ever say and could save your life when you least expect it. When did respect turn to fear? His cousins from the Petrovich Pack are the first he can remember fearing theras.

His oldest cousin told him the horror stories of insanity, lack of control, how theras could kill with just a touch. How they don't care for the laws and natural order. How they want to harm others just because they have the power to do so.

"Are you alright?" a soft voice inquires from the direction of the door, pulling him out of his thoughts. Turning, he spots a young man with varying tones chocolate coloring and gentle old eyes. Why are his eyes so old when he does not look to be older than fifteen? "I could feel your distress when I stepped onto the pack property."

"I'm fine," he replies shortly in English, not wishing to discuss his difficulties with this stranger who confuses him.

Tilting his head, the younger man's eyes narrow at him, "That's a bald faced lie." Golden eyes shimmer briefly as he studies him, "The part of me that grew up in a pack where violence was acceptable says to walk away and let you deal with your demons. Which you are broadcasting and hopefully none of the pups are empaths cause you're giving me a headache, I would hate to know what they are feeling. The other part of me, the healer in me says to force the issue. I am not the forceful type however, so I am just going to suggest you find someone to speak with."

Turning, the younger man goes to leave and he cannot seem to stop himself from stating, "Stay." Barely stopping himself from using the alphas voice. It is not polite to use the alpha voice on someone not attacking.

Pausing, the younger man inquires, "Why would I subjugate myself to pain for someone who does not wish to talk? Someone who is confused but does not want to understand? I'm an empath, a strong one, thankfully not a telepath or standing here would be agony."

"You are a mind healer?" he inquires, turning to face the younger man fully, studying the way he carries himself. He is both very timid and not timid at all, how odd.

"I can mind healer, yes," the younger man answers, tone vague, eyes wary as he watches him.

An epiphany has him asking, "You are more than a mind healer?"

The shifter in the door tenses, body ready to flee at the first sign of trouble, "Yes."

It is short, clipped, distrustful, yet he still answered honestly, why? This young man is confusing him.

"I am Alexei Petrowski, alpha wolf of the Petrowski Pack." He introduces himself, trying to soften his tone because he does not want this possible source of answers bolting.

"Jace Arden, healer in training for the Watson Pack." The young man responds firmly, body going from ready to flee to ready to fight. Interesting.

"What is your opinions on blocks and bindings?" he inquires, motioning to the seat across from him.

The younger man doesn't move, instead he continues to study him, gold eyes seeming to see too much.

He nearly jumps when a second young man appears beside the healer. Slightly taller and broader, the second young man has icy eyes and makes him feel hunted, not something he is used to as an alpha. His scent screams wolf in a way the other shifters does not.

"Jace?" the wolf murmurs, watching him with distrust.

"It's okay Kon, we're just having a conversation." The golden-eyed boy reassures the wolf.

"Then I will stay close in case it becomes a bit more than a conversation. Even that annoying wolf who likes the basement didn't raise my hackles as much as he does," the icy-eyed wolf states, inclining his head slightly without ever taking his eyes off him.

A smile curves the golden-eyed young man's lips, "Really, I'm safe, if I wasn't you know Eric would have already showed up since he is so close."

"Or he could be seeing how well I do my duty," the wolf retorts, "However I will accept what you say."

"Thank you," the golden-eyed shifter responds, moving a bit further into the room almost as if to prove a point.

Bowing slightly to the golden-eyed young man, the icy-eyed wolf withdraws but he can still smell that he is nearby.

"Kon and Eric are very protective of me. Kon as my protector and Eric as my courting-mate." The younger man tells him as he settles on one of the chairs closest to the door. "You asked about bindings and blocks."

Sitting down on the sofa he is standing by, he nods, considering the young man's words. Protector. That is the same title that his cousin-in-bond had used to describe his brother's roll. This young man was a thera?

"You are a thera?" he inquires, a bit dumbfounded because there are two of them in this pack?

Slowly the young man nods. "I am." Tilting his head, he comments, "I know many try to bind healers for various reasons, most of which is purely stupid."

"You feel it is wrong then?" he asks, trying to keep an open mind, this young man seems older than he is, like he understands the world better than someone his age should. At the same time he feels trustworthy, all his instincts telling him that this boy could help if he lets him.

"Binding can be very useful if used right. For instance: binding a certain aspect of a gift to allow the other parts to be trained before releasing it, but one has to release it, not releasing the binding causes so many problems." He shrugs, "I had my gifts bound from the instance it was realized I had any up until two years. The rush of power when the binding broke was enough to nearly lock me in my own head if not for the Healer."

"Healer?" he repeats, not sure who the younger man is speaking of.

"Alpha John, he requests that we call him by his name, but that is not something I can easily do, too many years with my birth pack. So I call him by the title he has less issues with, he accepts it. Maybe someday I'll use his name, but not currently." The golden-eyed man answers.

"May I ask why you were bound?" he is actually curious.

"My birth pack did not like the fact I am a multi-form hybrid. The person who birthed me is a wolf, my birth father a crow-lynx-mouse. I can become an elite wolf, elite lynx, or a crow. I like my bondfamily, because I have been adopted, and my new family cares for me a way the person who birthed me never did." The shifter responds, voice sad and making him want to offer comfort. "Sorry," the young man mutters and suddenly the urge to comfort has vanished, "Projecting. Not intentional, happens sometimes when I am trying to deal with my own emotions and other peoples."

"You never learned to shield because of being bound," he states, tone making it not a question.

"I'm learning, but its harder to do when I am already set in some of my thinking patterns, would have been better for me to learn it as a child, but that wasn't my fate." The golden-eyed shifter responds with another shrug.

That statement makes things so much clearer for him. If his daughter is to have control she has to learn as a child, not an adult or late teenager. With that most of the negative feelings that had filled him seems to vanish.

"Thank you," he murmurs, shocked that it could be so simple.

He really should have listened to his mate, brother, and cousin-in-bond. All three had told him close to the same thing in their own way. Each had felt like an attack and he had reacted in emotion, not logic, yet here was a young man giving him a reason why binding is bad without making him feel attacked.

"Your friend, he's not an elite is he?" he inquires motioning to the door.

"Kon? No, he's not an elite, but that doesn't matter, he fears little, and trains with the military pack members, most of which are not elites but there are a few in the mix. Eric, Hyder, Nathan, Healer, the beta Jacob are all elites." The golden-eyed shifter answers with a smile.

His eyes widen as he considers that, most packs do not have any elites unless it is the alpha, or possibly the alpha family. Even then, there is maybe one or two. Yet he is being told this pack has at least six of them.

"How many elites are there in this pack?" he asks, not sure he will get an answer.

Frowning, the young man thinks about it, "At least eight? I am pretty sure my sister is going to be an elite when she gets older, and I am pretty sure that there will be others who develop that as they get older."

That is a lot of elites.

"Well I think my sister wants me, you feel a bit calmer, now, did you figure out whatever was causing you problems?" the younger man queries as he stands.

"I did, thank you," he responds, nodding and standing politely.

Smiling, the golden-eyed shifter nods before wandering off without saying anything else.

He sits back down, deciding he might want to contemplate some of the other things he considers facts that might not be. He had always thought he was a good alpha, but perhaps he could be a better alpha with just a little bit of effort. After all, his father was a excellent alpha, he wants to be one as well. Maybe it is time he figures out ways to make his pack a safer and better place without using fear to do so.

When he is done figuring it out he will tell his mate, and apologize to her, because he needs to. Hopefully she forgives him for his laps of intelligence.

* * *

So I have a new publishing schedule, I will update one or two stories on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. No story will be updated twice in the same week.

I write commissions for those who are interested, the info can be found on my tumblr page JaimiStoryTeller, under Donations and Commissions, currently trying to raise the money to fix my heater (80 dollars) and my car (breaks went out, muffler is really bad 250 dollars).

This would have been posted earlier but I kept having problems with AO3 only, for reasons known only to my computer and AO3 (where I had the file saved)


End file.
